Earth Day 2023 : 9 actions to put in place as a priority to limit its impact on the environment.

Earth Day 2023 : 9 actions to put in place as a priority to limit its impact on the environment. 

              

On the occasion of Earth Day this April 22, Vogue asked the presidents of environmental protection associations what were the priority levers for action to adopt a more responsible way of life.

Earth Day 9 actions to put in place as a priority to limit its impact on the environment. 

This April 22 marks Earth Day or “ Earth Day ”. The opportunity to ask those who are committed on all fronts to limiting global warming (which must imperatively be kept below the critical threshold of +1.5° according to the IPCC), the key gestures for each on its own scale, contribute to making the future more virtuous, more breathable, healthier, for all living beings. Rosalie Mann , president of the No More Plastic association , Jean-François Julliard , managing director of Greenpeace France and Albane Godard , managing director of the Good Planet Foundationeach give us their top 3 good ecological resolutions to take, right now, to significantly limit their environmental footprint.

How to limit its environmental impact?

1. Do a “plastic diet”

“By banning category 1, 3, 6 and 7 plastics as much as possible. These are the most toxic and dangerous for health and the environment. To do this, simply locate them on our products with the symbol of the Möbius strip, a triangle with three successive arrows surrounding a number ranging from 1 to 7. The Möbius triangle is the universal symbol of recycling but, be careful, in this specific case, it gives no indication of whether or not the product is recycled. This symbol only indicates the type of plastic used. For your health and for the environment, I advise you to:

1/ keep foods wrapped in plastic for as little time as possible and never reheat them, even if the label indicates that you can do so. Never leave a plastic bottle exposed to the sun, if you do, do not drink the contents and never water your plants with it.

2/ Use glass, stainless steel and porcelain containers when you can. And if, despite everything, you had to buy food packaged in plastic, transfer this food into glass when you get home, in order to leave the food in contact with this plastic for as little time as possible.

3/ When you buy a beauty or care product, check the composition of the container and the content. A plastic container contaminates its contents and many contents, in the case of products of decant these foods into glass when you get home, in order to leave the food in contact with this plastic for as little time as possible. 

4/ When you buy a beauty or care product, check the composition of the container and the content. A plastic container contaminates its contents and many contents, in the case of products of decant these foods into glass when you get home, in order to leave the food in contact with this plastic for as little time as possible. 

5/ When you buy a beauty or care product, check the composition of the container and the content. A plastic container contaminates its contents and many contents, in the case of products ofproducts contain plastic, which we ingest daily through the pores of our skin. If you see the words "polyethylene, or polypropylene", listed in the ingredient list of a beauty or personal care product, it means that it contains microplastics in its formulation. Note: from April 22 to 24, No More Plastic and the clean beauty brand Oryza Lab are joining forces so that part of the profits from sales will be donated to the association and they are organizing a contest on Instagram.

6/ When you buy a garment, always check the label, if it contains synthetic materials (nylon, polyester, acrylic, elastane, polypropylene...), it is plastic and therefore represents a danger to your health to wear this material directly on the skin.”

2. Get rid of your non-stick Teflon pans

“They release millions of microplastics when you cook. By dint of using and washing them, the Teflon layer crumbles and releases microplastics. The layer being composed of a plastic polymer belonging to the PFAS family. Teflon also releases PFOA, a substance toxic to health and the environment. However, do not throw them in the trash but bring them back to the stores that sell them. Collection points are set up in specialized stores.

3. Leave the places visited leaving nothing behind but beautiful memories

“When the good weather arrives, every time you spend time by the sea or the ocean to reconnect with nature , remember that it is important to preserve it. A concrete way to protect our environment is to prevent plastic from reaching the sea. 80% of plastic waste in the Mediterranean Sea comes from land. 85% of the waste that is found on the beaches is plastic waste.”

4. Limit yourself to 230g of meat and half a liter of milk of animal origin per week (or at least reduce your consumption)

“The latest IPCC report is very clear: we must green our diet. In France, we have continued to industrialize our breeding model, with ever larger farms that pile up ever more animals. In addition to the catastrophic living conditions for these animals, these factory farms threaten the financial autonomy of farmers and contribute to soil, water and air pollution and the collapse of biodiversity. They also aggravate deforestation at the end of the world by importing massive quantities of food for livestock. To get out of this model and encourage local, independent and ecological farming, we must reduce our meat consumption. Our recommendation is to consume around 230g of meat and half a liter of animal milk per week.”

5. No longer fly when an alternative by train exists

“The plane is the mode of transport that emits the most greenhouse gases. It alone already represents 7% of France's carbon footprint and above all the prospects for an increase over the next few years are very worrying. The only solution is to develop train alternatives, especially night trains, which are a great way to travel in Europe. While waiting for new rail links, those that already exist already make it possible to spend extremely pleasant holidays. And without even taking longer than the plane. A single example: a Paris-Turin takes about 5 hours door to door by plane, including the time needed for check-in and security formalities at the airport, while by train it is 6 hours. And all that, while emitting 150 kilos of CO² by plane, and... barely 2 kilos by train. In our guide to eco-holidays , there are about forty exciting destinations without flying.”

6. Change bank

“We think about it less often, but the choice of our bank has an impact on the environment to a greater or lesser extent. The banks manage the colossal amounts of their customers' savings and this allows them to invest in different industrial or economic sectors. And depending on the destination of these funds, the ecological impact is not at all the same. For example, BNP-Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne have allocated more than $23 billion to companies developing new fossil fuel projects since have committed, in 2021, to aiming for carbon neutrality. Several guides and comparators exist to help you find your way around, but be aware that the options are not very numerous. In summary, only two banks are doing better than the others: the Crédit coopératif and the Postal bank. Up to you !"

7. Plant your diet as much as possible

“Ideally by promoting local, seasonal and organic products. It's fun (see: the recipes from the BON book that we published at the GoodPlanet Foundation with the recipes of our sustainable chef , Ninon Gouronnec), and it allows you to discover lots of new tastes, it's not more expensive , it's good for health and for the planet (for the climate but also for biodiversity and resources such as water).”

8. Definitely say no to fast fashion

“The textile industry emits 10% of the world's greenhouse gases and consumes 4% of the drinking water available in the world, so we buy less, buy better, we repair, we recycle, we reuse (with structures like the Emmaus Label) and we put pressure on the big brands. We also pay attention to the washing cycles (no need to wash your jeans every 2 days!)”

Albane Godard, General Manager of the Good Planet Foundation

9. Rediscover the taste of “slow life”

“Going slower, not expecting to have access to everything right away, taking the time to observe and marvel at what surrounds us and what nature offers us, every day, reconnect with others and with the living... It allows you to learn a lot of things, to feel much better and... to go to the market then to cook good little vegetarian dishes before fixing the little addict of this magnificent shirt that we love so much with the help of her nimble-fingered neighbour! Need advice or ideas? Come to the Domaine de Longchamp for a cooking class, a biodiversity walk, an educational exhibition on biodiversity, a discovery of the animals that surround us…”